Return to Me
by Josephine77
Summary: After Rumplestiltskin and the rest of Storybrooke's leaders along with Hook go in search of a kidnapped Henry, Belle is left to pick up the pieces and bring the town together before outside forces disturb their newfound peace.


_Like other fics out there right now, here's the ubiquitous story of what happens to Storybrooke after our core players travel off to Neverland. _

**Chapter 1 **

The salty sea air blew across the harbor as a lone figure huddled into her coat. Watching the old ship sailing out of port, Belle tried to control the tears that fell as the _Jolly Roger _disappeared into the mists.

Rumplestiltskin was gone.

She understood his reasons for leaving, but that didn't stop her heart from aching for her true love. She already missed him immensely. But now wasn't their time. Henry had to be found, above all else. Belle knew that Rumple needed to help rescue his grandson, even if it meant what he termed "his undoing." He believed that he'd failed Baelfire, but he would not do the same to the remaining link he still had to his son. And despite all he said about not returning, she knew in her heart that he would come back to her once again.

Clutching the scroll Rumplestiltskin had given her moments before he'd disappeared, Belle turned her back to the water and headed toward town. Cutting through alleyways, she ignored the wind that whipped around her. He'd entrusted her with a mission. The town was not safe. If something wasn't done to protect Storybrooke then others would come. It was a risk none of them could take.

It wasn't a long walk from the docks to the pawnshop and Belle was soon standing before the familiar teal building. In their haste to reach the others, they had forgotten to lock the shop up or even set up wards against intruders so the door opened easily as she rushed inside. Turning on the side lamp, she moved quickly and efficiently as she headed behind the glass-topped counter. Belle had no idea what awaited her. She'd seen Rumplestiltskin perform magic often, but never thought to try herself. Could she even do it?

"Oh, Rumple," Belle whispered. "What if I get this wrong!"

As she unrolled the scroll, to her surprise a second sheet fell to the counter. She soon realized it was a letter:

_Dearest Belle,_

_The following parchment contains an incantation that will protect the town of Storybrooke from invaders. I know from experience that you're probably worried about doing it incorrectly, but it's very simple. Anyone can activate the spell. All you need to do is recite the words and blow a gentle breath on the parchment. The magic has already been cast. It only needs a catalyst to bring it into effect. After the spell is in place no intruders will be able to enter from beyond the town lines. _

_Please remember that I will always love you. Despite the mistakes I've made and the promises I've broken, I've never wavered in my devotion to you. Who knows what the future will hold, but I will have peace knowing that you are protected and safe. _

_With all the love I have,_

_Rumplestiltskin._

Wiping a stray tear rolling down her cheek, Belle lovingly folded the letter and set it aside. She picked up the parchment and in a clear voice said the words meant to protect the town of Storybrooke. Finishing the incantation, she softly blew on the paper and felt a wave of warmness roll through her body. An effect of the powerful magic just enacted, she hoped.

Thinking of her next step, Belle rolled the parchment back up and placed it inside a dish laying on the counter. Rumplestiltskin's letter was tucked into safely her inside coat pocket. Walking into the nearby office, Belle grabbed the spare keys she knew that Rumple kept hidden in his desk drawer and inspected the back door and windows before leaving through the front door and locking up the pawnshop securely from interlopers. With her anchor now absent, Belle headed to the one place she knew that would contain a friendly face or two.

As she approached Granny's Diner she could see a crowd already gathered in the limited space inside. The noise was deafening as Belle opened the diner's doors but shouts turned to whispers and furtive looks were shot at her as she walked towards the counter.

"Granny," Belle spoke, but tears suddenly sprung to her eyes and interrupted her sentence. She didn't know where they came from, but the sight of Granny opened the floodgates.

"Belle?" Granny asked as she hurried from behind the counter. A slight nod from the teary Belle confirming that the girl was no longer "Lacey" had Granny enfolded her into her arms. She held the younger woman as she silently wept.

"There all gone," she sniffed as she pulled slightly out of Granny's embrace.

"What do you mean?" questioned Ruby, now standing beside her grandmother and patting a distraught Belle's back.

"Rumple, the Charmings, they've left."

Pushing a tissue into Belle's hands, Granny guided her to a nearby table and pushed her down into waiting chair. "Now, darling," Granny soothed. "Tells us what's going on."

Taking a deep breath, Belle explained, "Henry was kidnapped by that woman Tamara and the outsider Greg. They're working together to destroy the town. When the failsafe was stopped, they grabbed Henry and took off. Rumple and I were at the shop and he sensed something was wrong so we hurried to the docks. When we got there they'd already taken Henry and disappeared. Tamara had stolen the magic beans and used it disappear with Henry."

"Oh, my" Granny cried, covering her mouth in horror. "What happened to the others? Where are they?"

"Evidently, Hook had stolen the last remaining bean somehow and had taken off. For some reason, though, he had second thoughts and returned. He offered his ship in aid and they all left on it to find Henry."

"They're all on a ship together?" a shocked Ruby asked as she sat down across from her friend.

"Rumple, the Charmings, Emma, Regina and Hook." Belle listed. "They'd decided to set aside their differences to find Henry."

Ruby reached across from her friend and grabbed her hand as her grandmother went behind the counter, "Why didn't you go with them?"

"Rumple doesn't believe he's returning. He thinks this is a suicide mission for him, but he had to do it to save his grandson. I think he feels I would be a distraction if I were there."

"The Dark One is immortal," Ruby reminded her. "Why would he think he's not returning?"

She debated on how much of the prophecy to reveal knowing there were lurkers listening in on every word that was being said. "Without betraying his confidence and giving too much away," Belle informed, "a seer once gave him some information and he thinks it's now coming to fruition."

"You've got to have faith," Ruby consoled her and squeezed her friend's hand. "Soon they'll be returning and he'll be terrorizing everyone in town again.

"I hope so." Belle smiled as she wiped away her remaining tears. "That's not the only reason he wanted me to remain in Storybrooke."

"What else is going on, darling?" Granny asked, placing a glass of iced tea before Belle.

"Rumple left me instructions on how to protect the town from outsiders," she informed her friends. "Evidently, Tamara and Greg work for a higher organization and have been in constant contact with them. He feels that others will be coming and we need to be prepared."

"Wait a second, Belle," Granny asked the younger woman. "Do you mind if I call over Archie and the others for this?"

"No," Belle replied. "The more opinions on this the better. I can't handle this responsibility on my own."

Granny motioned Archie, Leroy and Blue over to the table they were currently occupying. By the time Granny had finished catching the group up on everything Belle had told her and Ruby, Marco and the remaining dwarfs including Anton had joined their growing assembly.

"So now we've got to worry about some anti-magic organization invading Storybrooke?" Leroy exclaimed as he looked down at Belle.

"Before he boarded the ship with the others, Rumple gave me a protection spell. It's supposed to prevent any outsiders from crossing the town line."

"Like before Emma broke the curse," Ruby said aloud. "We couldn't leave Storybrooke and outsiders couldn't enter."

"How can we trust anything Rumplestiltskin does?" shouted one of the dwarfs

Belle looked up in the crowd and retorted, "Because I'm here. He wouldn't have left me here if he wasn't sure the enchantment would hold. I hate to sound conceited, but if he had any inking that I would be in danger yet again, he would never have had me stay in Storybrooke. I would have been on that ship where he'd have a chance of protecting me."

At the low murmuring from the others questioning Belle's faith in her true love, Granny spoke up. "It's true. Rumplestiltskin may be the biggest bastard in town, but he dearly loves this girl. If he thought his spell wasn't going to work, he would never have left her here."

"So what do we have to do to enact it?" Ruby asked. "Everyone who has magic, besides Blue, is on that ship."

"I've already done it," Belle informed the crowd. "A few minutes before I came into the diner. Rumple gave me instructions. All I had to do was read the parchment and blow on the words."

Turning to Blue, Archie asked, "Is this true? Is that all she needed to do to enact the protection spell?"

"Yes," Blue informed everyone. "If he enchanted the parchment then all she needed to do was act as a channel for the magic to work."

"How do we know if it's in place?" Leroy asked, looking furtively between Belle and Blue.

"After I did the spell, I could feel a warmth spread over myself," Belle explained. Looking around, she asked, "Did anyone else feel it?"

"Now that you mention it," Ruby replied, "I did feel something a few minutes ago. But with all that's been going on I didn't really pay attention to it."

"It's working," Blue confirmed. "I can sense the barriers in place."

"Do you know where they've gone?" Granny asked Belle.

Shaking her head, Belle sighed, "No, they were already on the ship by that time. I just know that Rumple said he could help them find Henry."

"Do the beans send everyone to the same place?" Archie inquired, trying to think logically about the situation. "We know that Neal was shot and sent through a portal with one of the stolen beans. Emma told us that earlier. And then this Greg and Tamara vanished with Henry through a portal opened by a bean, but do the beans send everyone to the same place?"

"No necessarily," answered Blue. "When Baelfire, or Neal as he goes by now, first came to me I gave him our last remaining bean. It was to send him and Rumplestiltskin to a 'land without magic'. The bean will send you to wherever you wish to go. The boy wanted to go somewhere where there was no magic to tempt his father. Rumplestiltskin didn't go, but young Baelfire did."

"That's how we ended up in Storybrooke," Anton piped up. "Hook attacked me and stole a dried bean I wore as a necklace. That witch Cora shrunk me and her and Hook kidnapped me and put me in a cage on his ship."

"But how did the bean work if it was dried?" Ruby asked.

"They threw it into Lake Nostos and rejuvenated it. That's how we got to Storybrooke."

"Are you sure there's no more beans?" Granny asked the dwarfs gathered around the table.

"None," Leroy answered. "Regina kept the last remaining plant. The fields were burnt to a crisp. Nothing is left. She made sure of that."

"So we've got Henry kidnapped and taken through a portal to heavens knows where; Snow, David and the others chasing after them; and Neal shot and his body sent probably someplace else," Granny summarized.

Belle sat and looked at the crowd gathered around her table. "Is there any chance that Baelfire, er…Neal survived?"

"Emma was there when it happened. She said there was no way he could have survived. She said it was serious gunshot wound," Ruby answered. "What do you think, Blue?"

"I don't know," the fairy answered truthfully. "My powers don't extend far enough to track people in other realms. But the likelihood of him surviving a life threatening injury and someone finding him are rare."

"So what do we do now with Snow and Charming gone? Heck, even Regina kept the town running." Leroy exclaimed.

"I think the first thing we have to do is have a meeting at the town hall," Archie answered. "Get the word out and have as many resident gather there as possible. Rumors are going to be flying by the end of the day. It's better if we get the news out as soon as possible."

"What about tomorrow?" Leroy proposed. "With all of us, we should be able to spread the news and get as many people there as possible.

"Excellent," Archie agreed. "How about tomorrow afternoon. Say around 2:00 p.m. That way we'll have the morning, also."

"I'll put a notice up on the door and inform everyone that comes between tonight and tomorrow," Granny volunteered.

"Come on, brothers," Leroy ordered his fellow dwarfs. "Let's split up. Best get this done as soon as possible."

With the town meeting scheduled for the next day, the group dispersed. Each with a mission to inform the residents of Storybrooke about the upcoming meeting the next day.

"Belle, why don't you spend the night here," Ruby asked her friend after Granny's was emptied of all but a few straggling patrons.

"I couldn't," she answered, unwilling to be a burden to her friends.

"Yes, you can and you will," Granny ordered. "I'll hear of nothing else. You will spend the night with us."

"But I have to check on the apartment and Rumple's house," Belle answered

"Those things can wait until morning," Granny insisted. "You've had enough upheaval today. We all have. There is nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. Tonight you will stay with us."

Knowing it was useless disagreeing with Granny once she'd made up her mind, Belle relented. "Thank you, Granny. I'll stay here tonight. But I really do have to get some stuff from my place." Belle insisted, gathering her coat closer around her skimpy dress.

"Go ahead, darling," Granny allowed, understanding Belle's need to shed Lacey's clothing. "But don't be long. I'll close up early and we can all have dinner together tonight."

As Belle hugged Granny and assured her she'd be back soon, Ruby untied her apron and pulled on her jacket hanging by the door. "Come on, Belle. I'll help you gather some things," she volunteered.

Granny could hear her granddaughter muttering as they disappeared out the door, "Just think. It will be like a slumber party. I haven't had one of those since I caught Snow hiding in the barn when she was on the run as an outlaw back home. Now that's an interesting story."

___I apologize to anyone following me as an author. It's been a long time since I've updated or published anything. For a long time, I lost all desire to write. My father passed away this winter after a difficult and lengthy illness and writing just wasn't a priority on my mind. I thought about it and sat down at the computer ready to type…and nothing would come. I've had plot bunnies form, but nothing really materialized. I decided to just wait until the finale to see if the juices would start running again. I finally, after thinking about whether to return to writing or not, decided to just sit down and see what came out.. I hope you like this. It's the first thing I've written in months besides a few oneshots._

_Hope you like this first chapter. Review and let me know your opinions. It's been a while since I've really written anything multi-chaptered so I'm a bit rusty. It's all outlined and half-written so I hope to get the story completely posted in the next few weeks. It should be around six chapters long. We'll have appearances by Moe, Neal and maybe even King George will pop up somewhere along the way. _

_Edited: Had to delete it this story and resubmit it because of uploading and browsing troubles. There was a glitch and it was easier to repost the story._


End file.
